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TUNKHANNOCK - A jury trial for a suspended Tunkhannock Twp. police officer, scheduled to begin Monday morning, was canceled because of a procedural error from the state attorney general's office.

Robert Reimiller, 35, of Eaton Twp., had been charged in December with food stamp/assistance fraud the previous spring.

Wyoming County President Judge Russell Shurtleff, after consulting with Senior Deputy Attorney General George Zaiser and Mr. Reimiller's attorney, Donald W. Jensen, informed the courtroom that a procedural error had occurred before the case was brought to his courtroom, and that the error could, if the case proceeded, cause the trial to be remanded.

According to court records, Mr. Reimiller had a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 6 before Magisterial District Judge Jennifer Vandine and the charges were held for county court, where Mr. Reimiler was arraigned Feb. 3.

Because he had no previous criminal record, Mr. Reimiller was given the option to enter the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, which allows a case to be expunged from one's record after a period of probation passes and no subsequent criminal behavior occurs.

Mr. Reimiller had an ARD hearing April 11, and Judge Shurtleff granted a motion April 19 to admit him into the program along with one year of probation.

A court order May 10 allowed Mr. Reimiller, however, to withdraw from ARD adjudication and he requested a jury trial instead.

According to Mr. Zaiser, the error was in bringing the defendant before a county judge for jury trial with the charge before him.

He noted that the fraudulent obtaining of food stamp assistance charges were third degree misdemeanors, which required a full hearing before a magisterial district judge.

Mr. Zaiser said the error went unnoticed until after the jury trial convened because it is a situation that rarely presents itself.

According to Judge Shurtleff, only if the magisterial decision is appealed should it be heard by the county judge.

Because the defendant is a former deputy sheriff, the case will likely go before an out-of-county justice or a retired judge.

Contact the writer: pfarnelli@wcexaminer.com

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